The balance of the 14-driver rundown were Ricky Craven, Johnny Benson, Jeremy Mayfield, pole-sitter Terry Labonte (who led the first segment from start to finish), Ted Musgrave, Bobby Labonte and Jeff Burton. Everyone finished on the lead lap in the caution-free, mostly-predictable race.

Gordon started 14th and finished 12th in the first segment. According to rules, the field was brought in at halfway and the running order inverted. That put 14th-running Bobby Labonte and 13th-running Earnhardt on Row 1 to begin the second segment.

After running so poorly in the first segment, Gordon started on the inside of Row 2 for the second. He made it look easy, passing Bobby Labonte on lap 12 and going unchallenged the rest of the way. Wallace came from 12th to second in three laps, but neither he nor Earnhardt was a threat down the stretch.

Gordon insisted he didn't sandbag in the first segment just to get a better starting spot for the second. ''I took off and saw there was no way I could get to the front,'' he said after his second Clash victory. ''If your car takes off and you have a good line and that takes you to the front, then you go with it.

''But I didn't see that happening today. I didn't feel I had the fastest car, one that would get me from the back to the front. So I got in as good a position as I could for the second half.''

Neither segment was particularly exciting. Terry Labonte, Martin, Wallace and Jarrett broke out early and ran away in the first segment. The only suspense was whether the second group of Jeff Burton, Musgrave and Benson could catch them (they did, barely) before the halfway break.

''Once you get in line,'' Gordon said, ''it's difficult to pass anybody. The closer the competition, the harder it is for anyone to pass without help. The real key for me in that second segment was to get a good start and go by Bobby.''

Irvan said the Clash was simply a follow-the-leader parade. ''This is different from anything we've ever had to get accustomed to,'' he said. ''The cars draft well, but you just can't pass anybody. I don't know why, so it's good we have time to work on it.''

Jarrett, for one, dislikes the off-season rules changes designed to make cars even more equal. He expects Thursday's two 125-mile heat races and next weekend's Daytona 500 to feature single-file racing.

''They wanted cars equal and that's what they got,'' he said. ''You don't have anything extra now, so you can't pass. Two cars can't even get lined up and go by anybody. I don't see how it'll be anything other than single-file racing.''

Wallace was left to ponder what might have been. His Ford was strong in the first segment, then came from deep in the pack to finish second overall.

''If I could have gotten to the front,'' he said, ''nobody would have gotten around me. The car would run so hard down the straightaway I couldn't get anybody to pull up behind and push me.''

He pooh-poohed the talk about not being able to pass. ''Heck, I passed 10 cars in half the front stretch,'' he said. ''It can be done if you have the right opportunity, but it's pretty rough if you're in the draft, looking for a slingshot to get by somebody.''

With a Ford ahead and a Pontiac behind in the final laps, Earnhardt knew he didn't have a shot at winning the race.

''I couldn't get close enough to help Rusty and Ward couldn't get close enough to help me,'' he said. ''I don't see anything other than the same kind of stuff Thursday and Sunday.

''And, really, that's not very good racing.''

BUSCH CLASH

The order of finish Sunday of the Busch Clash, with starting position in parentheses, make of car, laps completed and money won (race field inverted after first 10 laps):